Light emitting diodes (LED or LEDs hereafter) have been used in automotive applications such as taillights and center high mount stoplights (CHMSL). The LEDs are favored because of their ruggedness and long life. Current models of LED taillights either mount the LEDs on a metal post on an angle off the axis to achieve an emission pattern away from the axis and to keep emitted light from getting absorbed by the post or use a flat mounted ring of LEDs pointing upwards with the light being directed off axis by a lens, usually of plastic, that produces an emission pattern that is not efficient and is hard to use in reflector optics.